Redgte

Quick update: I waited it out and my email to Bid came in at 80 days out. Strange thing is if I click on the 'Upgrade with MoveUp' on the Celebrity site it still says my booking isn't eligible. I used the link in the email though with no problem. I don't have high hopes to get any of the bids accepted though as it looks like our sailing is sold out. I submitted a bid for each of the Sky Suite options so we shall see...

1 hour ago, Purplsmurf said:

Yes. I was getting that same response. That’s why I called because it was way less than 90 days and the same message was popping up. I actually never even got an email when it did open. I just kept checking and eventually it allowed me to make a bid. 

Oh good to know! I will just keep checking and waiting it out then.

2 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

Hard to tell. We have a cruise coming up in June. At the 90 day mark bidding wasn’t available yet. At the 75 day mark it still wasn’t so I called celebrity. I was told that it wasn’t open for bidding yet, but would be soon. It opened about 65 days prior. 

Were you by chance getting the same response as in post #15 prior to being able to bid at 65 days?

5 hours ago, Gilliganluvsmaryann said:

When I check to see if Our cruise is eligible ( Beyond May 5th- 12th) this is message I get. I am older than 21 booking paid in full I booked it myself online and it is 26 days before sailing.

Your reservation is not eligible to place a bid at this time. To be eligible to submit a bid the following requirements must be met:

• Must be 21 years or older.
• The booking must be paid in full.
• Travel Agency must be a participating agency in the CELEBRITY MOVEUP program.
• Bidding opens 90 days before sailing.

That is exactly what I see as well on my reservation and lead to my question. I'm going to give it a little longer since I'm still 89 days out and will email if nothing changes.

1 hour ago, Sleepybluegiraffe said:

Thank you for starting the thread. I’ve been wondering the same. We’re at 91 days out with final payment due end of the month (we’re in the UK so different final payment date)

It is frustrating isn't it! Although I know it doesn't really matter as long as it opens at some point but I suppose I'm just a bit impatient  😆

1 minute ago, RosieRoo said:

I just placed bids on two cruises in June. Neither were open to bidding at the 90 day point. I kept getting a message saying it wasn’t time. I just kept checking back and it worked eventually. 

We are early July so hopefully it will open soon then. Thank you!

3 hours ago, bikerunner said:

I have had it open 80 ish days out and then others open 60 days or so out.   No rhyme of reason.  

Thank you! I'll just wait it out then and keep checking. The odds are probably small we will even win the upgrade but I definitely want to try!

14 minutes ago, miched said:

If you booked thru a big box warehouse your cruise won’t be eligible.   
 

I think there is also a clause that pertains to group rates not being eligible.  🤷‍♂️
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Neither of those situations apply (I used a regular TA). Perhaps I should go ahead and email...

I am currently 90 days out from my sailing and attempted to login for a MoveUp bid. A pop up stated that for eligible reservations 'Bidding opens 90 days before sailing.' Though of course I'm now in that window and mine has not opened (my TA booking should be eligible). In the info at the top it states 'Eligible reservations on all Celebrity Cruise ships within 30 days of departure date.' I have been trying to research through older posts and it seems from what I'm seeing there is no rhyme or reason to when bidding opens, is that correct? It seems it can open anytime after the 90 days rather than right at 90 days which what the popup message states? Just wanted to confirm before I send an email. I don't want to bother them if just because I'm getting anxious! We are are currently in a Concierge stateroom and hoping to bid on a Sky Suite.

Thank you all so much! Sounds like there are options! We definitely plan to eat in the main dining room on sea days as well.

Hi all! We are planning our first Celebrity cruise since I have had to go Gluten Free and I have been researching GF options onboard. From what I understand GF pastries are available on the ship but I have not had any luck finding if they can be requested through room service. On our past Disney cruises all I had to do was note 'Gluten Free' next to the item on the room service card (Muffin, Donut, etc.) and it was not a problem to have the items delivered in the morning. Is it possible to request a GF muffin or toast by noting on the room service card on Celebrity? Thank you in advance!

Definitely call and check with insurance companies directly. We had a land based vacation to St. Barth and Saba booked when I became unexpectedly pregnant with our first child. When we called to check on using insurance to cancel it wasn't possible. Apparently normal/healthy pregnancies were not covered as a reason for cancelation. Thankfully our villa agency worked with us to let us reschedule after our son was born though we were out our airfare for the trip.

If you can afford a suite, are retired and can't take it with you, not to mention getting a good deal...why not? You are in your thirties with other priorities...we always stay a while in Europe...it is very educational unlike Hawaii; we did that when we were your age. Perspective and time changes things....you will find that out as you grow older. The 30's are not the same as the 50's and 60's...cruising to Europe is so much better than flying..I have never done Carnival and most likely won't; I am glad it once worked for you! I still prefer hiking in NZ to cruising around it...sure hope you enjoy Celebrity.

 

 

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Oh goodness, I apologize as I didn't mean to offend anyone! Everyone has different priorities and ways they like to travel is all I meant and it seems rare that others view cruising as we do which for us means a cruise is a budget trip :) We prefer land based trips rather than cruises and in actuality if we are going to be on the water my husband prefers bareboat charters because he is an avid sailor. We have done the BVI and the Renaissance Islands recently-we had booked a charter in Greece this past August but having our daughter due the same month changed those plans. We've actually never been to Hawaii but one of our first big vacations after we were married was 18 days spent traveling in Hungary and Croatia so yes we are big Europe fans. We fondly call our daughter our Parisian hitchhiker from our week we spent in Paris last Fall!

 

For us, cruises are more of a 'budget' type trip. We save the more expensive vacations for higher end resorts, Europe, Hawaii, etc. But obviously there are a lot of people out there that will spend a fortune on a suite. I'm just not one of them.

 

Nice reading your perspective as we agree. That is also why we've sailed Carnival in the past but now in our 30's we're ready to move on and are excited to try Celebrity. I've kind of felt like we were the only ones that viewed cruising that way! We do cruises when we want a budget vacation-except when we do Disney (with our children) because unfortunately DCL and budget don't really go together!

For me the only reason to use a TA for cruise bookings IS to get additional OBCs. I learned from my recent experiences which large TA outfit to go to for best OBCs. One does not need to give away control or planning. I put together my own itinerary and figure out the best air ticket routes and bookings, typically with miles.

I suppose cruises are the one thing that would potentially make sense for me to book through a TA because it's either a phone call to the cruise line or the TA and not using one can be essentially giving up free money. That would seem to be six of one and a half dozen of the other. I know I can still book everything else myself (we tend to travel on miles quite a lot as well) but I was worried about having a middle man instead of just going straight to the source for things-like this price drop. I did have an experience with my Disney TA where she was unreachable for several days so I was stuck waiting (and she is a recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner) because my onboard booking was done through her. My next Disney cruise I will be trying someone new.Too bad agents can't be recommend on this site because that would certainly be helpful! It's always nice to hear the first hand experience of others!

I know a lot of people prefer working through a TA but I fall into the camp that prefers to do it myself except for Disney cruises so I can get onboard credit (since they hardly ever have special pricing to speak of). I enjoy planning travel and would say I'm good at it, not to mention I also hate giving up control! One of the first trips my husband and I planned together was an 18 day trip to Eastern Europe (Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary) so we figured we could pretty much handle any trips after that and to date we have!

That's great. There are so many permeations it is hard to keep on top. Everyone has their own thresholds and $120 buys a bunch of tee shirts.

Not t-shirts, but the $240 total will just about cover the Premium Celebration Package we plan to purchase so it's almost like getting it for free ;)

In almost every case once you book with X fare and Y promos that is your reservation. If the fare goes down you normally have to cancel and rebook. That means that the promos you got with the first reservation may not be available depending on the time span between when you first booked and when you asked for the lower fare. Every situation like you describe has a footnote stating new bookings only.

 

Now on the flip side if the fare goes up $120 do you call and ask how you can pay for this new up charge. .

I'm new to Celebrity but what you described goes against my understanding of their advertised 'Best Price Guarantee'. It specifically states that you can request an advertised lower fare or the addition of an 'added value offer' to a current reservation. When I spoke with the second vacation planner he had absolutely no issue with applying the lower cruise fare to my reservation and pointed out it was a nice savings :)

Did you check to make sure you kept any perks you may have had, if any.

Yes, we did :) Exact same stateroom, Go Big Beverage Package and even got to keep our $25 pp deposit! I was expecting to have to pay an additional $450 for the deposit so I was quite surprised that did not occur!

My husband and I currently have a Bermuda cruise booked for next year.I've been monitoring the price and when I checked the Celebrity website the cost had gone down by about $120 pp. We booked directly with the cruise line so I called to have the price adjusted and through a very round about conversation was told the price we had already booked was better than the current promotion. I pulled up the website and described what I was seeing but kept being told why what I was seeing was not correct. I let it go and hung up the phone and proceeded to put a hold on a new stateroom in our same category at the reduced price. At that point I called Celebrity back and was connected with someone different. I described what I had done and he immediately changed our booking to reflect the lower price keeping our current stateroom.

This is our first time sailing with Celebrity and I have to say I'm a little frustrated about this situation though ultimately it was resolved. Is it normal for the Celebrity vacation planners to be inconsistent? And it just seems a bit odd that the first one saw different prices than the second. Did the first person I spoke with just not want to provide me with the lower cost?

Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment! I used WW after I had my son and I'm back on it after having my daughter this past August (34.6 down, 28.5 to go!). You already have a great plan with staying active and making healthy choices early in the day. I try to keep my snacks to fruit and vegetables and I always cut portions in half when dining out and share courses with my husband, especially dessert! I avoid the high calorie mixed drinks and stick to one or two glasses of wine. I also always have my espresso beverages made with skim milk and no flavored syrups (or if I want the flavors ask for just one pump or even a half). On vacations we definitely take the stairs as much as possible and try to do active excursions like kayaking, snorkeling, hikes, etc. I hope y'all have a fantastic trip!

Thank you so much for the info! Sounds like I definitely need to book it! This cruise will be our first vacation alone after having our second child this summer so I'm looking for some things to make it special :) And I hear you about acquiring expensive tastes! We visited Vueve Clicquot on a trip to Reims last year and at the end of our tour they poured a glass of each the usual yellow label as well as La Grande Dame. It was very hard to go back to yellow label after having La Grande Dame!

Can anyone please tell me their experience with the Premium Celebration Package? It appears to be quite a good deal with all of the inclusions. However, I'm a little surprised that for a cost of $249 the included champagne is listed as Dom Perignon as the cost for a bottle of Dom when purchased alone is listed as $222.

We're on the 8/27 sailing and it says that traditional is filled on our sailing as well. I thought that was unbelievable when booking a year out!

I have never sailed with Celebrity (we just booked our first cruise on the Summit for next year) but I really think you should consider a Disney cruise as was mentioned above. They have open houses (usually there is some time each day) in the kids club where you would be able to stay with your child to play in that area. There is also a splash area (Nemo's Reef) on the Dream and Fantasy for children that are still in diapers. The adult areas on Disney are fantastic and you would be able to book time in the nursery for only $9/hr to have your little one watched while you enjoy time alone.

And of course no dirty looks on Disney! The staff is amazing and constantly interacting with the children. Our server did magic tricks for our 4 year old son and even cut his steak for him! For babies they will even get you pureed foods if you would like not to mention they provide cribs, diaper genies, etc. in your room if requested. There are so many character meet and greets and the shows are all Disney themed so there is just so much that would keep a nine month old stimulated.